More Islands to Visit: The Arans

Mr. Robert Cushman Murphy intrigues us from the start of the next article from National Geographic Magazine's June, 1931, issue.  "Find an island remote because of distance or unfashionableness and you have found a new world," ("The Timeless Arans: The Workaday World Lies Beyond the Horizon of Three Rocky Islets Off the Irish Coast," p. 747).  I love all things island, the hotter the better!  The author continues, "The islanders themselves. . . supply most of the exultation of the visitor, as well as the echoes that ever move among his heartstrings."

Our island trip today is to the three Aran Islands, not far off the middle of the west coat of Ireland.  "Although the largest of the group is less than nine miles long, the three together have, at a guess, as much stonewall as all New England.  Inishman, the middle island, boasts 2,500 miles of walls" (748).  The other two islands are Inishmore and Inisheer; total island land area: 19 square miles.  Population in 1931 was less than 2,000. Even more islanders were emigrating to America.

Ruins of a stone church beyond the stone wall, Ireland, August, 2011.  Ruins are never removed.

The distinctive native clothes were still worn in the Arans in 1931.  An unusual practice was the wearing of red skirts instead of pants by boys aged 15 and younger.  Legend reports that "The fairies or the commonplace devil have the power to lure small boys out of the everyday world, but their influence over little girls is much less (p. 760)  Thus, the evil ones are deceived.

Homes were built of cemented stone with thatch (90%), flagstone, or slate roofs.  Even the chimneys were thatched and never caught fire.  Although there were a few separate barns for the animals, most homes had an attached room for pigs and donkeys.  Chickens, ducks and turkeys could wander through the kitchens' open doors in warm weather.  Cats and dogs, of course, stayed with the family.  Some families owned sheep and a cow or two.

My brother, Don's home in County Cavan, Ireland, August, 2013.  Building code required all homes (except the historic ones with thatched ones) have slate roofs.  Although large, this house is of a design typical of most Irish homes.

The Aran islanders' chief occupation was fishing, as were of most islanders everywhere.  Their boats, resembling rowboats, were distinctively different.  Called "curraughs," they were made of canvas stretched over oak frames then soaked with hot tar.  They were extremely light weight.  Another important trade was harvesting sea kelp, from which iodine would be extracted.

As in all Ireland, there are plenty of stone ruins scattered about the land.  "Seven churches" ruins appeared that a church was abandoned when outgrown for a larger one.  There are ruins of several large forts, called "duns."

The islands had no cars in 1931 but the police were "equipped with a motorcycle or two" (771).  The chief diversion were weddings, marriages having been arranged by a young couple's parents.  The author was pleased to attend one of the weddings. After the church ceremony, the entire wedding party and guests danced their way three miles to the bride and groom's new home. "Into a kitchen of not more than twelve by fourteen feet fully 60 persons had crowded in the form of a hollow square, with space in the middle for four dancers" (773).  This would continue for 24 hours.

Mr. Murphy finishes this article with an account of the islands' fairies, called "shee."  "Their visibility to human beings is quite capricious, and the control sometimes lies with a higher power.  One person may see them frequently, another only once in a lifetime, and many not at all" (775).  We'll surely re-visit the big island of Ireland soon!